<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Lee Berman <severiansola@hotmail.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> urth@urth.net <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Monday, March 12, 2012 9:52 AM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> (urth) Lupiverse(s)<br> </font> </div> <br>>Craig Brewer> So my real question here is how sure we are <br>>that Urth isn't just Earth.<br> <br>I don't think we can be. And I agree that the interview, <br>by itself, could be dismissed as retrofitting. Much as<br>we'd hate to think
of Wolfe doing that, he is human.<br> <br>Here is what sways me to believe Briah was intended as a past<br>universe from the start. On first reading most readers will<br>assume that "Urth" is just a funny spelling of earth.<br> <br>But with further readings and research you come to learn that<br>Urth is a spelling for one of the three Norns, the one who<br>embodies the Past. This could be a coincidence until you become <br>aware of how learned and immersed in mythology Gene Wolfe is. It<br>is unlikely to be an accident.<br> <br>Furthermore, the other two Norns, Skuld and Verthandi are also <br>referenced. This seems to me a clear example of Wolfe speaking in <br>code to those who are (or become) familiar with the minutiae of <br>Norse mythology. Urth is not the future. It is not the present. <br>It is the past.<br> <br>This allows Urth and Briah to be futuristic but still be Christ-<br>absent. And it allows there to be a Flood without having
God<br>break his Covenant. These two components seem necessary for what<br>Wolfe was trying to accomplish with this work. <br>__________________________________________________________<br>I completely agree with the logic here, as well as the thought-out significance of the name "Urth." Add to that the text's suggestions of iterations and a great cycle, and there you are. It fits.<br><br>However, going back to Craig's question and the first line of your answer---that's true too. For example, we can't ever be totally sure from what perspective to <span style="font-style: italic;">see </span>that past. Our own perspective is a logical possibility---but so is the perspective of Ushas, which replaces Urth. There is always a yesterday where a story began, a today where choices must be made, and a tomorrow which is uncertain at best. This fits too
(at least it fits New Sun, if not so well Urth of the New Sun).<br> </div> </div> </div></body></html>